Orlando Comets

Yesterday's Scores

Wednesday, DEC 29, 2004

Kelso/Closet Maid Tourney (in Ocala)

Lake Brantley Classic (in Altamonte Springs)

Rams Squeak By Ft. Payne, 65-63

(KB - 12/29/04) Angie Guiu hit two free throws with 11 seconds to play and the Lake Mary Rams(13-1) used a fourth quarter surge to squeak past the Ft. Payne, AL Lady Wildcats(12-2) at the Greene County Bank Ladies Classic in Greeneville, TN today.    The Rams trailed by as many as 6 points in the fourth quarter after jumping out to a 24-10 lead in the first quarter.    Ft. Payne clawed back and led by 2 at the half.     The teams battled back and forth before Asia Wilson hit a short jumper to tie the game at 63-63 with 23 seconds to play.     On Ft. Payne's next possession center Kandace Orr was called for double-dribbling, giving Lake Mary the ball back.    Guiu was then fouled on a baseline drive and hit both ends of the one and one.   Ft. Payne had one more opportunity to tie or win the game, but Jones stole the ball and dribbled out the clock.

The Lady Wildcats are the reigning Alabama state champions.   They came into this tournament riding a 27 game winning streak.    This game might have had a different outcome if the Lady Wildcat center, Kandace Orr, hadn't sat a good portion of the game in foul trouble.

What we keep hearing about this tournament is the fundamental soundness of all the teams.    Although most of the top teams in Florida are more athletic than the Tennessee teams, several attendees have commented the any of the teams in Greeneville could beat all of the teams in Florida.   That's a bold statement, but its truthfulness is largely borne out by the fortunes of Florida teams at summer AAU tournaments.   We don't tend to win.

The Rams, however, have won two straight now and will face South Greene High School(8-4) on Thursday for seventh place at this tourney.   After stumbling badly in their first game against Mt. Juliet, the Rams have stepped up their defensive posture and are playing credible ball.    Jones' steal may have set up the winning shots, but Sena Cooks' offensive rebounds in the fourth quarter were the real catalysts for Lake Mary's comeback.

Jordan Coleman led the Rams with 18 points and 9 rebounds.    Asia Wilson contributed 17 points.    Tailor Jones logged a double double with 11 points, 11 rebounds, 6 assists and 4 steals.      Katie Wilson led Ft. Payne with 23 points.

Box Score

More Tournament Scores

(KB - 12/29/04)  We didn't get a chance to go up to Ocala today, but we do have some Tuesday scores.     (Find results of Edgewater's tourney at KSA here.    Edgewater(12-2) defeated Eastlake, CA yesterday)

TUESDAY, DEC 28, 2004

Kelso/Closet Maid Tourney (in Ocala)

Evans Lady Trojans Holiday Classic (in Sanford)

Lake Brantley Classic (in Altamonte Springs)

Rams Back on Track, Win 67-49

(KB - 12/28/04)   The Lake Mary Rams(12-1) bounced back from yesterday's crushing loss to the Mt. Juliet Bears and took a convincing 67-49 win over the West Greene Lady Buffs(6-7) this morning at the Greene County Bank Ladies Classic in Greeneville, TN.    In typical Lake Mary style, the Rams broke open a close game in the third quarter with a tough defensive stance and cruised to the win.   Unlike yesterday, the Rams stayed out of foul trouble as they ratcheted up their defensive intensity.

Tailor Jones led the Rams with 18 pts, 9 rebounds, 4 assists and 3 blocked shots.    Asia Wilson had 15 points.    The Rams will take on Ft. Payne, AL(12-1) on Wednesday at 2:30 p.m.     The Ft. Payne Lady Wildcats squeaked by Chucky-Doak High, 73-72, this morning.     Both Ft. Payne and Lake Mary suffered their first losses of the season at this tournament.

Box Score

Rams Rocked, 75-48, by Mt. Juliet

(KB - 12/27/04)   Welllllllll!!......if SG is ever wrong, y'all be sure to call us and let us know.

The Lake Mary Rams got exposed in the low post earlier today, exposed in a very big way at the Greene County Bank Ladies Classic in Greenville, TN.     Junior center Alysha Clark(#22) rocked the Rams for 38 points today, leading her Mt. Juliet Bears to a 75-48 win over the visiting team from Florida.   All of her points came in the paint.

Rams freshman center Jordan Coleman commented, "Dad, she was just too strong for me.   When I fronted her she just pushed me off and they lobbed it up to her.    When I played behind her she just backed me down.    I couldn't stop her."

And it was much the same with Ram forward Tailor Jones.    Clark lured Jones in to 3 first half fouls and stuck her with her fourth early in the third quarter, sending her to the bench.    With Jones on the bench, Mt. Juliet stretched a 5 point halftime advantage into a 20 point lead to start the fourth quarter.

SG had been quietly mumbling beneath all the hullabaloo about the Fab Frosh.   We'd said:   "They are a little light in the low post.   Jordan and Tailor are not centers, they are guard/forwards".    We'd even gone so far as to agree with a criticism of Jordan's weight (or lack thereof) that had been posted on the Breakdownmagazine.com messageboards.

This massive loss also exposed another Ram weakness--depth.     Despite Clark's effectiveness, the Rams hung with Mt. Juliet (the seventh ranked team in the southern region) until Jones went down.   Then the dam burst.     It is usually the Rams who put teams away in the third quarter.    Turnabout, in this case, is a bitter pill.   The Bears played smart, crisp basketball.   They left no errors to be exploited and they quickly exploited Ram weaknesses.    Jones' loss gave them the impetus they needed to put this game away.  

Ram parent Cody Franklin gave the Bears the ultimate compliment.    He said:   "They played like Fencor."    Any AAU veteran can appreciate that statement.

The Rams' only option in this case seems to be to promote Paula Regalado from the JV squad.   Regalado is a true center with quick feet, a strong upper body, and (most importantly) she is five very hard fouls to level against powerful centers like Alysha Clark.    Coach Brown may have been saving this option for later in the season and may still choose to do so, given the relative dearth of powerful centers in Florida.    Regalado is regularly posting double-doubles on the JV team and is gaining in confidence daily.

But if the Rams choose to head to Greeneville again next winter, they need to remember that Clark will be waiting.    She is only a junior.

The Rams can only hope to finish seventh in Greenville now.     They take on West Greene on Tuesday at 10 a.m.   

While this loss is the Rams'(11-1) first loss of the season, the magnitude of the loss will certainly affect their state ranking.   Last week top ranked Miami High lost twice at a tourney in South Carolina.    They are playing in the Jr. Orange Bowl Classic this week.   Second ranked Deerfield Beach is playing in a Naples tourney that features four top 25 teams and will probably not come away unscathed.   Third ranked Norland is playing a tournament in Ocala where, if they survive the early rounds, they will have to play a Winter Haven squad at full strength.    That means all of the top ranked girls teams in Florida may lose games this week.

Who'd a thunk it?

No Upsets in Ocala, But Some Close Calls...

(KB - 12/27/04)    While the Rams were getting thumped in Tennessee, SG was pounding the sidelines at the Don Kelso State Farm Girls Classic at Ocala Forest High School.   

Why, you ask?   Because it was there.   

Well, not really.   Several Comets White players were competing.    We wanted to get the skinny.   You know how we do...

We watched the end of the Palatka/South Sumter game, won by Palatka, purely because we wanted to see this mythical 6'2" freshman shooting guard first sighted by Kenny Kallina back in September.   They had a six foot freshman CENTER, alright, but she was an AAU 15 year old.    STEEE-RIKE ONE!!

In the second game of the day Mater Dei, the fourth ranked team in California, squared off against Kenton Ridge of Springfield, OH.     Why is this game pertinent?   Well, super-frosh Sakara House plays for Kenton Ridge.   House made MG's first team All-Tournament at AAU 13U Nationals in Rochester, MN last summer while playing for the Dayton Spiece Lady Airmen.

Mater Dei jumped out to a 10 point lead over Kenton Ridge in the first half, saw the Ohio girls whittle the lead down to a single point in the third quarter, then pulled away in the fourth quarter to grind out a 43-37 win.   House led Kenton Ridge with 18 points in the loss.

In the third game of the day, Boone(12-1) took on a very scrappy West Port Wolf Pack(10-2).   SG predicted that Boone would win by 20.   SG was wrong.   West Port led most of the way and outplayed Boone in every facet of the game.   They took a 6 point lead in the second quarter and milked it until midway thru the fourth quarter.    West Port was rocked by the loss of starting forward Camesha Patterson(#34) to an ankle injury in the second quarter, but they held up.    When starting guard Shamarrah Simmons(#30) went down with the same injury in the fourth quarter, West Port crumbled.   Their carefully crafted 6 point lead melted under a barrage of turnovers.      Briyanna Blair led Boone back from the precipice of defeat, scoring 20 points--nine in the decisive fourth quarter.   Boone dodged the upset, 46-38, and will face Haines City on Tuesday.

The fourth game between Lake Gibson and St. Thomas Aquinas was the most exciting game of the day.     Lake Gibson was an undersized underdog against a highly ranked Aquinas team that featured 6'4" Stanford volleyball signee Foluke Akinradewo.    But Lake Gibson features three Comets White players--Andrea and Andrell Smith and Antonia Bennett--so we knew this game wasn't going to pass without a scrap.

So we were vastly surprised to see the Smith twins patiently running offense and deferring their scoring opportunities to their teammates.    Long known for their run-and-run style, the Lake Gibson coach insisted that the twins play within a structured offense today.

The strategy worked.   Largely.   The Lady Braves took a 25-20 halftime lead despite Akinradewo's dominance on the boards and 8 first half points.

We were further surprised in the second half when Braves coach David Volpe held to this same strategy as Aquinas made their inevitable run.    The Raiders closed the gap and took a 5 point lead of their own in the third quarter.    Akinradewo scored at will in the low post.    Still, Andrea and Andrell patiently worked their offense and passed up shots while trying to move the ball around the perimeter to their older sister, Eunisha Proctor.

With 1:20 left in the game, Lake Gibson faced a 46-40 deficit.   Volpe unleashed the twins in a suffocating full court press.     Predictably, a minute later the score was 46-45 and Andrell was on the line shooting two with a chance to put the Braves ahead.   She hit the first but missed the second, tying the game.

The Braves then forced the Raiders into two consecutive timeout calls as they failed to inbound the ball.    On the third attempt the Raiders inbounded the ball as all five Brave players scrambled to force a turnover.   That left three wide open Raiders in the forecourt.      The Raiders lofted up a fullcourt pass to Charlease Williams, who knocked down a wide open layup as time expired.     The Raiders(7-3) escaped with a 48-46 win.   Akinradewo led all scorers with 23 points.   Andrea Smith led Lake Gibson with 17 points; Andrea dropped 7 on the Raiders;   Proctor finished with 13 points.   The Braves dropped to 7-3 on the season.

The other games that we watched were blowouts.   Norland waxed Bucholz, 62-35.     Haines City dominated Ocala Vanguard, 56-36.    Seven Rivers was crushing Ocala Forest at halftime, but we left before the carnage was complete.     Winter Haven was licking their chops over some victim from Georgia at the time; we preferred to shield ourselves from the sight and smell of viscera.

In the Norland/Bucholz game we got a chance to see Eboni Sadler (the hype is all true) and Vontrice Dennis (ditto) play.    Dennis didn't start, but scored 21 points in little over a quarter and a half.    Of course, we offered this scintillating freshman center a roster spot with the Comets White right then and there.

But she's already 15!!!    STEEE-RIKE TWO!!!!

Can't any of you people send me a 6'3" 14U baller?